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Old Filth (Old Filth, #1)

Jane Gardam

Start date: December 15, 2011

Finish date: January 15, 2012

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Al Pope

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What Members Thought

Jul 08, 2007 David rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-2007, unexpectedly-terrific

I'm not sure why I love Jane Gardam's writing as much as I do. She bowls me over. I'm hoping that it's more than the fact that she writes about the kind of people I grew up with; my background is solid upper middle class - strong emphasis on education, high parental expectations, all that good stuff, so that the academics, barristers, doctors and other professionals who populate her fiction form a milieu which is instantly recognizable to me. But it is more than that - she is a bloody good write I'm not sure why I love Jane Gardam's writing as much as I do. She bowls me over. I'm hoping that it's more than the fact that she writes about the kind of people I grew up with; my background is solid upper middle class - strong emphasis on education, high parental expectations, all that good stuff, so that the academics, barristers, doctors and other professionals who populate her fiction form a milieu which is instantly recognizable to me. But it is more than that - she is a bloody good writer, creating indelible characters that stay with you in prose that is terrifically effective without ever calling attention to itself.

(OK. Let me go on the record, in case you haven't figured it out by now. I am not a particular fan of fiction that's clever/flashy/gimmicky because far more often than not it signals an author who's insecure, narcissistic, or both and is usually a harbinger of major deficiencies in important aspects like characterization and plot. I could name names, but the list would go on for days..)

Gardam's calm, self-assured style may have something to do with her late start as a writer - her first novel for adults was published when she was 50. When "Old Filth" came out, in 2004, she would have been 78. I enjoy imagining the scene when the inevitable request must have come from her publisher to come up with a more marketable title - her photos suggest a woman who doesn't suffer fools gladly. But in this case one has to think that there must have been a better title - "Old Filth" is a slightly offputting title which gives no indication of how terrific this book is.

FILTH is an acronym for "Failed in London, Try Hong Kong", which describes a particular sector of the British professional and civil service classes, with the not so subtle implication that those who chose to work in former outposts of the empire may not have done so as a first choice. The book is the story of Eddie Feathers, a successful Hong Kong barrister and so-called "Raj orphan", born in Malaya, orphaned, and returned to England to be educated. When the story opens, Feather is already retired; Gardam flashes back and forward along the timeline throughout the novel, so skillfully that it's never annoying.
Although Eddie enjoys professional success, his emotional life is far more circumscribed and Gardam sketches its limits with subtlety, warmth and humor.

Even better, she continues the story in last year's "The Man in the Wooden Hat". While "Old Filth" explores the Feathers marriage (and the love triangle that prevents it from being emotionally fulfilling) from Eddie's viewpoint, the sequel presents events from the point of view of Betty, his wife. TMitWH accomplishes the amazing feat of not just matching the brilliance of OF, but improving on it.

The NY Times reviewer timesreview wonders how a writer of Jane Gardam's general awesomeness can remain neglected by U.S. readers who apparently find time to read the anemic maunderings of that one-note whiner Anita Brookner. To be honest, I'm a bit puzzled myself.

This is a great book. ...more

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May 01, 2022 Sandra rated it it was amazing

Shelves: amazing-literary-fiction

Simply brilliant.

4 likes · Like · see review

Nov 22, 2007 Ruth rated it really liked it

Beautiful writing. I loved it.

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Apr 05, 2011 Katy rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

Jane Gardam's novel, Old Filth, is a model of economy and restraint. Economy because she does not waste words. Her writing is precise and direct. Restraint because the emotion is controlled and never mawkish. Even as dreadful events occur, she is unsentimental and unsparing and at times hilarious in portraying human frailty; and finally at least for me wonderful in her portrait of a man in his time. In my opinion, this is a small masterpiece. ...more

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Jan 27, 2012 Sara rated it it was ok

I'm all for non-linear telling, and the writing was very fine, but in this case the chopped-up timeline didn't ever really come together for me. I kept getting popped out of the story. No regrets on reading it, though, and I know I'll read more Gardam. ...more

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